It's Monday

I love that I can come home for lunch on Monday's. I thought my flowers were looking exceptionally beautiful at noon.


We do our part for the neighborhood watch program.


This morning Tommy lost his crib. Casey put together a toddler bed for him, he really likes it.


This summer we hope to paint the bedrooms so we can have a "boy" room and "girl" room. It looks like they will get along splendidly!


Rachel got a package in the mail today- from Sahknaa! A box full of clothes, how nice is that? Here is Rachel modeling a pair of pj's, these were a winner in her book.

Fun in the Sun

What lovely princesses! Yes, that is Mackenzie, Rachel, and Amber. The girls had a busy afternoon. We went back to church later in the afternoon to celebrate Olivia's birthday. It was a nice party with just the 4 girls. Stephanie always has cute and creative ideas for parties. I took pictures of that, too. If she doesn't post about it I will. Since it was for her kid I'll give her first dibs.



The kids had fun going up and down the sidewalk on the bikes. Poor Tommy always misses out on the fun, he naps about 3 hours every afternoon.

Hair

Abby's been having some hair issues lately. There is a little tuft on top that just grows straight up. This morning while I practiced with the praise band, Brooke and Mel decided to work their magic with a little rubber band and barette. I think the outcome is just adorable. Plus, Pam and Cathy wanted to see Abby in a dress. Now everybody is happy!

Stepping Stone

Here is my first attempt at making a stepping stone! We are going to make them at our next MOPS meeting, so I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. I purchased some different colored stones, and I really liked the letter stamps that I found at Michael's today, it looks better than me carving my name with a stick. I realize the stone would be more attractive in the garden setting, but I couldn't wait a couple days to show Stephanie. So here it is!

It's the Olympics- and I didn't even have to work out!

The Immanuel Olympics finally arrived. Casey and I have been looking forward to playing scrabble for weeks. When Casey and I play scrabble by ourselves it is late at night and we can polish off a whole plate of bean dip at the same time. You feel it the next day, but it is always worth it. So today the mood was a little more serious, the competition was stiff. And I am not talking about Mrs. B's new knee. Here are a few photos from the morning. Unfortunately Pam forgot her camera, so we won't see the action from the afternoon.



I'm thinking to myself, "It's a lot easier cheating at UNO..."


Our faithful scorekeeper. Isn't he cute!


"I'd rather be playing my ukelele"


I almost didn't recognize him without his vest on.


Is Chris playing ping pong or doing the robot? You decide.


"Are the sloppy joes done yet? These Veihl kids are really getting on my nerves."


Please don't tell Bev...


Pam is admiring Abby's hairdo. Jenny could do wonders with a little gel.


A wicked game of kick ball.


Hannah is running to home. She gets cuter every time I see her. Is that possible?


There's nothing tastier than an Immanuel sloppy joe. Hi Debbie- I told you you'd end up on the internet!

Thomas and Abby

Abby's had a bad day. I guess we all have those. She's cried a lot and her nose is running. As you can see by the pictures, Tommy is very concerned about his baby sister. He is such a brute, but when it comes to Abby he is as delicate as can be. I was getting everybody ready for bed and she was having another fit. He layed next to her on the floor and kept patting her chest so gently. I hope he will always be this protective of his sis.

For Josh

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

My mind has lots of information and it's hard to form coherent sentences

It's easy being a mom when the kids can play outside and I can sit in a lawn chair and browse through my Country Woman magazine that came today. Pastor Mark and Lynn spoke to our MOPS group today. They are great parents. They don't have cable and they use chart for chores. Rachel likes to dry dishes and make her bed, she's like her dad.

Here is the picture that I want to use for our profile. I was trying to figure out how to get the picture to my profile and it is a little complicated for me. But the first step was to post it on your blog, so I've made it that far anyway. Since Casey couldn't find his Oscar the Grouch that I mentioned in a previous blog, he bought a t-shirt with Oscar on it to help him cope with the loss.

Sunday Afternoons

Abby likes her new hat. Laurie got it for her for Easter. Thomas and Abby are both sleeping now, and Rachel went with Laurie and Dean to look at some open houses, so it is really quiet around here. I should be out working on my tan. Maybe I'm finally getting too old for that. Nah.



Adam is very excited for his first bike ride of the season. We inherited these carriers from Pastor Mark- he actually made them! We don't put on as many miles as the Hazens do, a couple jaunts around the block usually does it for Buddy.

I finally made it to Barb and Matt's house!

This is the Shookie's new house! Barb is Jenny LaBo's sister, I have been friends with them pretty much since birth. Their new house is just around the corner from Holly Luter's old house. Here are some photos to document our journey. The funniest thing that happened was Tommy getting shut into Shelby's cage. And he liked it.


This is Adam and the infamous Shelby. I have never in my life seen a dog with so much... vigor.


Tommy poses by the soon to be removed landscaping stones. Matt has been working his tail off removing the stones around the pool, too. The pool is going bye bye.


We really like the house!


We have bikes, but they are not nearly as cool as Barb and Matt's.


The kids were entralled with the house plants and club crackers. Thanks, Barb, we'll bring the snack next time.

Abby

Here she is, up on all fours! Every time I walked into the room today she had rolled off her blanket.

The Return of Spring

I love my flowers. These smell heavenly!


Abby is the 4th Veihl baby to enjoy this stroller.


Tommy looks like Barney Rubble in his car.


Even Abby's outfit says "Spring" on it.


The storm windows are coming off!


I told you Judy had popsicles!

Sunshine

When I woke up the sun was shining! This has such an impact on my mood, yesterday was awful. Today I will look forward to playing outside and chatting with Judy over the fence. For those of you who know the Smith's next door, we are rejoicing that Mr. Smith is now in a home here in Saginaw. He was staying in Cass City, so they would only visit him once a week. He has adjusted well, and he and his new roomate enjoy playing cards together. They don't think he will ever be able to come home, but he is doing better than they expected him to, and Judy knows that it is in God's hands. We are thankful for our Christian neighbors, the kids are thankful for the popsicles she passes out. I'm sure I'll have pictures of our sunny day to post later.

Just a little kiss...

Today was a gloomy rainy day. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed (oh wait-I did do that) to escape the children and maybe have a short nap before Casey went to work. You just can't turn Adam's voice off, or even down for that matter. So needless to say I did not have a nap, but it was a pretty good day none the less. Here is Adam trying to defend himself against Rachel, all she wanted was a little kiss. These are the moments that make it all worth while.

For Barb- because it's her birthday!

Tommy doing his best to "make a muscle"


Barb has always said that Tommy looks like "a little John Cena." I had no idea who John Cena was until she mentioned it, so I looked him up on the internet. Here some pictures to prove that Barb is right. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!